Before And After
by Loonaticslover13
Summary: They consider their lives as two different parts: before and after they met each other. [Toothless&Hiccup friendship fluff] Twoshot.
1. i Toothless

Before and After

i. Toothless

* * *

**name**

_Before, he had the name his parents' had given him: Nyxyn. Then, he was simply known as Night Fury by the other dragons enslaved by the Red Death. And the Red Death, in the battle, referred to him as the Pest._

After, he was called Toothless, an unusual nickname that just stuck. Then, he was given the affectionate nickname of bud. And then Hiccup called him "useless" reptile. He loved all of these names though, even the amusement and satisfaction he got out of the last one, and he loved them far more than his old names.

("Toothless? Huh, I could've sworn you had - teeth...")

* * *

** lazy days**

_Before, lazy days were rare and few in between. He needed to help his pack, or the Queen's dragons, hunt. Free time meant soaring high above the clouds, relishing in his freedom, or taking a nap._

After, lazy days were more common. However, he was always technically on the clock. He needed to make sure Hiccup didn't fall, since the boy was still wobbly with his prosthetic; Toothless didn't mind though. Free time meant hanging with the other dragons, soaring high above the clouds, relishing in his freedom, or taking a nap, but Hiccup made everything better.

* * *

**naps**

_Before, naps happened only when there was nothing else to do, the only way to defeat boredom._

After, naps were a pleasurable pastime. He and Hiccup would often doze in the cove when the village got too noisy for the boy's liking. And the small weight of Hiccup leaning against him always made him fall asleep much faster than before.

* * *

**nightmares**

_Before, he had almost never gotten nightmares. Being young and ignorant, there was nothing to fear... Until he met the Queen. There wasn't much time to sleep after that though._

After, he knew them regularly. The most common one was where he didn't reach Hiccup in time to save him from the fire. He knew his boy got them too, so he knew he could live with them, if only to understand what Hiccup was going through.

* * *

**tailfin**

_Before, losing one had marked the end of a dragon. The pack would abandon them after a while. Or the Queen would gobble them up. He had felt complete devastation when he had realized it was gone._

After, he knew it wasn't the end of the world. He would never be the same again - but personally he thought it was a fairly small price to pay for all he had gained.

* * *

**forgiveness**

_Before, dragons didn't forgive easily. Grudges were taken to the death. If someone wronged you, you didn't forgive. You didn't let go._

After, forgiveness is something that is exchanged daily between the rider and dragon.

* * *

**sorry**

_Before, it was something that was said to him, not by him._

After, it goes both ways more often than not, between Hiccup and Toothless, but also, the dragon noted, between humans as well. Maybe that's why their overall society was better than his old pack.

* * *

**home**

_Before, home was the place he could rest his head. A place he knew, for the moment, he wouldn't die. When he was forced to join the Queen, the idea of home vanished completely._

After, it's wherever Hiccup is.

* * *

**fear**

_Before, he feared for his survival. In the pack, he was too young to really know fear. With the Queen, he didn't want to die. He wanted to get out. He felt bad for the other dragons, but overall it was every dragon for itself._

After, he feared for Hiccup's survival more than his own. And somehow, that scared him a bit too.

* * *

**humans**

_Before, humans were odd creatures. Not much was known about them. Then, they were ferocious and should be avoided at all costs._

After, Toothless knew what it was to love one.

* * *

**bed**

_Before, his bed was the most comfortable patch of stone in the cave. Then, it was the heated craggy ledge he preferred on Dragon Island, as far away from the Queen's lair as possible._

After, it's a slab of stone in his boy's room. His boy and Stoick had an argument about it. His boy threatened to sleep outside with him if it didn't happen. Stoick finally relented. The Chief would be furious if he knew Toothless sometimes slept with Hiccup on the boy's bed during especially cold nights.

* * *

**music**

_Before, he didn't know it. The sound of birds chirping was enjoyable, but that was as far as his knowledge went._

After, Toothless knew it was loud. There were lots of pounding and strumming long pieces of rope and yelling words that rhymed. It was loud. But he liked it anyway.

* * *

**chief**

_Before, he had no idea what the word meant. There was the Alpha, his father. The one who looked after everyone. Then, he had a tyrant, who ruled by force and brute strength._

After, he had a sense of respect, forgiveness and gratitude towards the man. And he also knew Hiccup would make an excellent one someday.

* * *

**dependent**

_Before, he was dependent on his mother. Later, on managing to bring enough fish to not get eaten._

After, he was dependent on Hiccup for the simple act of flying which was the single most important skill of a dragon. But Hiccup was dependent on him to reach the skies too, and he had no problem with them doing it together.

* * *

**death**

_Before, he was too young to understand. Sometimes dragons fell asleep and didn't wake up. Or the nasty colour red covered them. Then, it became all too familiar until it was all around him. And he felt it caress his snout too many times for his liking._

After, he learned of it's sadness. And as people - Hiccup grew up and as the others met death, he learned one of the worst things ever: dragons met death a lot later than humans.

* * *

**strength**

_Before, it was a matter of muscles. Could he push his opponent off him? Could he fly faster? Life was survival of the fittest. _

After, it wasn't just muscles. It was to stand up no matter how much your heart ached. To try even though you knew you were probably beaten before you even started. And although even after, the villagers never really thought of Hiccup as strong, Toothless knew he was stronger than all of them.

* * *

**love**

_Before, it was fleeting. It was more of a like. Then, it was gone completely._

After, it's always the strongest force pushing him forwards.

* * *

**bravery**

_Before, he thought that being brave meant not being afraid. If you were afraid, you could not be brave._

After, he knew it was being terrified, and doing it anyway. ("Hold Toothless... NOW!")

* * *

**hug**

_Before, it was not something he had ever experienced. Dragons simply couldn't hug. They pressed snouts together, or laid their head on top of another's, if affection was shown at all._

After, he loved getting them. And over time, he managed to give half a hug back.

* * *

**flight**

_Before, it was his favourite thing to do. Spiraling into the clouds, letting himself fall back and then gliding over the water at breakneck speeds._

After, it was his favourite thing to do. Spiraling into the clouds, letting himself fall back and then gliding over the water at breakneck speeds. But now it felt wrong if the familiar weight wasn't on his back. So at Snoggletog, he gladly came back with the helmet as a peace-offering.

* * *

**swimming**

_Before, he hated swimming. If you got wet, you couldn't use a plasma blast, and that was just an unwise choice for a Night Fury. With the Queen, it wasn't even an option._

After, he gladly went in the water to swim. Hiccup was still relearning how to with his stump and all, and it looked fun. The dragon's cannonball had made Hiccup laugh so hard, the delay in being able to use his plasma blasts didn't bother Toothless at all.

* * *

**food**

_Before, it was caribou and elk. Then it was sheep, or a few small fish._

After, it's as many fish as he would dream of in a basket, although he goes fishing with Hiccup when he wants to. And sometimes Stoick sneaks him one under the table. ("Dad, he's going to get fat if you keep doing that!")

* * *

**family**

_Before, it was a mother and a father. Then, there was nobody._

After, it was Hiccup. And Stoick and Astrid and the other dragons. But mostly Hiccup.

* * *

**sacrifice**

_Before, it was having someone spend their time hunting for him. Or watching a Gronckle give another its largest fish to give the Queen so they wouldn't be eaten._

After, it was something Toothless had done many times for Hiccup. And something Hiccup had done many times for him as well. ("Astrid, if something... goes wrong, just make sure they don't find Toothless.")

* * *

**trials**

_Before, they were certain tests, trials he had to go through in order to be a full member of the pack. He passed them all with ease. With the Queen, there were still trials to face - the Vikings didn't like losing their sheep, after all, did they?_

After, Toothless has pushed through many to have his friendship with Hiccup. And although they were hard and scary, he would gladly do them all again for his boy.

* * *

**protect**

_Before, he had parents who protected him. Then, he had only himself to protect._

After, he had a human - who, he quickly learned, were some of the most fragile of creatures - and he would stop at nothing to guard him from all harm.

* * *

**friend**

_Before, he barely knew the word. There were certain dragons he respected, could tolerate, but none he would seek out on his own._

After, it was his whole world.

* * *

**A/N: The next chapter will be Hiccup's, and like this one, I'll be doing little snippets on 27 words - some will be similar, and I have some already chosen (alone, for example,) but if you'd like to leave some in the review below, please do so. Depending on how many I get, I may not be able to do all of them, but I'll take as many as I can.**

**:) Tell me what ya thought if you want.**


	2. ii Hiccup

Before And After

ii. Hiccup

* * *

**ambition**

_Before, he was always full of ambition. He couldn't just kill a dragon - no, he needed to kill the ultimate prize, become a hero._

After, he was always full of ambition. There were multiple setbacks and he knew it would take a lot of work, but he would get that dragon back to skies, no matter what.

* * *

**alone**

_Before, he was alone. No one wanted to sit with him. Or talk to him. Gobber was there, but there was still a disconnect there._

After, he's never alone. He may sit in the Cove with just his thoughts, or excuse himself from the other teens for moments of peace, but Toothless always trots after him. People in the village have nicknamed the dragon "Hiccup's shadow" for good reason. And after fifteen years of being alone, Hiccup never minds.

* * *

**fall**

_Before, he fell a lot. Mud and ice were slippery and common on the Isle of Berk. He staggered under the weight of axes that other Vikings lifted with ease._

After, he fell a lot. Mud and ice were slippery and common on the Isle of Berk. Sometimes he fell out of choice - there was a thrill from freefalling he would never get tired of. And besides, Toothless is always there to catch him. ("Thanks bud.")

* * *

**leg**

_Before, Hiccup took them for granted, despite the many amputees - one he was in close quarters with very often - that lived alongside him._

After, he feels it every time he walks. Every step, every time he gets off Toothless, or gets out of bed. A permanent reminder.

* * *

**defend**

_Before, he struggled to defend himself. His hits were tiny and brittle and he stumbled and staggered easily._

After, nothing would stop him from defending his dragon.

* * *

**broken**

_Before, his father had only heard him sound so broken when his mother died._

After, his father heard it again. ("Take this out on me, be mad at mad at me, but please just don't hurt Toothless!")

("_For once in your life would you please JUST LISTEN TO ME?!")_

* * *

**amputees**

_Before, he barely noticed. That man was missing an arm. That woman was missing a leg. Gobber was missing both. Amputees were all over Berk. It didn't happen very, very often, but when it did, he felt bad, but then forgot. It was somebody else._

After, he was that somebody else.

* * *

**silence**

_Before, he was used to silence. There was a silence in between him and his father that he just couldn't fill in, that couldn't be breached._

After, he was used to silence. But there was a warmth in it now and he knew that if he chose to, he could easily break it.

* * *

**dragon**

_Before, dragons were odd creatures. Nobody knew why they came; it was even one of the first questions he asked when he was young. Then, they were ferocious and should be avoided at all costs._

After, he knew what it was to love one.

* * *

**downed**

_Before, a downed dragon was a dead dragon. ("It's the wings and the tails you really want - if it can't fly, it can't get away.")_

After, he proved the old saying wrong with Toothless, and right with the Queen.

* * *

**questions**

_Before, Hiccup had so many questions. "Why do the dragons attack?", "Where's the Nest?" , and, quietly wondering to himself, "So why didn't you?"_

After, he had forged his own answers, which everyone found much more satisfactory.

* * *

**mirror**

_Before, mirrors were a rare occurrence on Berk. There weren't many there and they weren't needed._

After, he saw himself in another's eyes; the strangest mirror he had ever come across.

* * *

**laughter**

_Before, laughter came scarcely from his lips. Gobber's wisecracks could make him chuckle, or smile, but that was about it._

After, he laughed - loudly and carefree - almost every day, if not multiple times, because really, some of Toothless' expressions were completely priceless.

* * *

**sky**

_Before, Hiccup knew that the dragons came from the sky. They swooped down from clouds in the dead of night and houses burned like torches against the black. The sky was something to watch with wary eyes._

After, Hiccup loved the sky. He loved the way it stretched on forever, an endless expanse of blue and white and black and sometimes gray. He loved the way it stole the air from his lungs as he spiraled above on the back of Toothless. It became his escape; a second home.

* * *

**inventions**

_Before, his inventions were going nowhere. Even Gobber considered them dangerous, due to the fact they always seemed to have some 'minor caliber issue'. And then one of them worked._

After, he undid the work of his invention by making a new one - and although everyone loved it, the only thing that mattered was that Toothless did.

* * *

**eels**

_Before, smoked eel was a fairly common dinner. Hiccup always went a little hungry whenever it was served, despite the fact Stoick insisted that "Ya need some meat on ya son!"_

After, he rarely had eel. His excuse was that it irritated Toothless, which was true, but made him much happier. Another similarity between them. ("Yeah, I don't like eel much either.")

* * *

**safe**

_Before, by the time he was ten, Hiccup had had more near-death experiences than most Vikings had in their entire lives. It drove Stoick mad; the boy kept running out when he couldn't defend himself. The Chief quickly learned during raids to half-listen for his son's screams so he could come to the rescue._

After, Toothless winced as he bit the leg, feeling the bone splinter and the blood left a bitter taste in his mouth. He had a hold on his boy now, and quickly pulled him up using his paws. He pressed the boy into his belly, his wings wrapping around him to keep him shielded. No matter what - Hiccup knew that he was always safe when he was with Toothless.

("But for me, the safest place is on Toothless.")

* * *

**this**

_Before, "It was no more of this..." No more of him, his quirks, his differences. Just behave._

After, "Turns out all we needed was a little more of...this." Because it was those differences - "Three hundred years and I'm the first Viking who wouldn't kill a dragon!" - that had saved them.

("First to ride one though.")

* * *

**fire**

_Before, unlike most Vikings, Hiccup didn't fear fire. The warmth was comforting, especially during the long, brutal winters on Berk._

After, unlike most Vikings, Hiccup didn't fear fire. Despite what he had lost to it, he had gained much more. But now, there was a deeper respect. Fire could destroy, just as much as it could help.

* * *

**Viking**

_Before, Hiccup wasn't the traditional Viking. It wasn't his size that set him apart - Ruffnut and Tuffnut were skinny like him, but unlike him, they could hold their own. They enjoyed fighting and were good with weapons, just like everyone else. And most importantly, a Viking always _- always - _went for the kill._

After, Hiccup wasn't the traditional Viking. He still wasn't the best with weapons. But he had the same stubbornness issues, same reckless bravery, and when the time came while battling the Queen - he _did _go for the kill.

* * *

**raven point**

_Before, it was a place deep within the forest - at least half an hour's walk from the village. Just a few miles away were the Sorrowful Sea Stacks - huge rock pillars that stuck out of the ocean. It was a place of beauty, but not of much importance to a young Viking._

After, Hiccup revisited often. Not as often as the Cove, but quite a bit. Because now, it was the place that started it all. Where he had found he couldn't kill a dragon. And the Night Fury had - let - him - live. Years later, it was where his gravestone was put.

* * *

**duty**

_Before, Hiccup had quickly learned the meaning of duty. His father used to speak of it often - until they stopped speaking at all. But he knew what being chief meant. His father's responsibilities came before anything - even his son. He had a chief-dad - in that order._

After, Hiccup knew the meaning of duty. His father used to speak of it often - and was now prepping him for taking over Berk, someday. And he had gotten a taste of it himself. And now appreciated that he had a chief-dad - in that order, because he had a mentor in more ways than one.

* * *

**dagger**

_Before, it was the first dagger he had successfully crafted. The seven year old had excitedly shown Gobber, who had said it, "Well, it's a start," which he knew was high praise. It was the dagger he had pulled out of his pocket and raised in the air above the Night Fury._

After, it was the dagger he had used to cut the ropes. It was the dagger that had been carefully flipped into the river. He had no plans on retrieving it.

* * *

**teeth**

_Before, Hiccup had been horrible during his teething phase as an infant. He lost his first tooth when he was six and another one a week later when he slipped on the wet steps up to the Meade Hall and cut his chin and knocked a tooth out. His father hadn't been pleased, but Hiccup had thought it was cool._

After, he loved seeing Toothless' gummy smile; it made a warm feeling spread in his chest. Out of all the smiles he knew, he loved his dragon's the most.

("Toothless...? I could have sworn you had - _teeth._")

* * *

**colours**

_Before, if asked, Hiccup would have said his favourite colour was blue. Like the sky, the mighty sea and Astrid's beautiful eyes._

After, if asked, Hiccup would have said his favourite colour was black. While he still loved blue, there was a comfort he got from seeing black. He had no reason to fear it the night anymore, seeing as his dragon had always kept him safe.

* * *

**words**

_Before, Hiccup had always been good with words. He preferred speaking, he wrote a lot - "Screw this tighter here, angle this differently," - and he talked to himself a lot._

After, Hiccup was still good with words. And although Toothless couldn't speak, he found he was okay with that. His words weren't what changed everything - it was his actions; and Toothless had proved time and time again that actions were far louder than words.

(And he loved the way Toothless spoke back to him in warbles and rumbles too.)

* * *

**friend**

_Before, he had longed for a friend for many years. A proper friend. Not just someone who didn't mock him. Not Gobber, who although meant well, couldn't get on his level. He needed a friend who loved him for who he was, faults and all._

After, Hiccup felt like the wait had been worth it, because Toothless was a better friend to him than he would ever deserve.

("Thanks, bud.")

* * *

**Thanks for all of the favourites/follows and reviews guys! :) You're the best. So while this story is complete, I have two HTTYD fics going right now, in case any of you didn't know. The first, is "Dragonheart" which I have finally updated (! :D) and the second I posted the prologue for today, "Vǫrðr Inn Verǫld Svíða" and I would appreciate if any of you checked out one or both of them. :)**

**And thanks to you readers who already do. :)**

**Feel free to review! **


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